How Your Mindset is Holding You Back--And What to Do About It

Your mindset may be holding you back. As a founder, you face enormous challenges. There’s arguably nothing harder than building a company in a capitalistic market. Especially when you’re starting out, there’s just so much to learn. From how to do customer development to creating a pitch deck and finding investors, it can be overwhelming the number of new skills that are required of you. 

The most common reaction to this is to seek out information, do some research, and try to find the right approach. But there are plenty of challenges you’ll face that don’t have a “right” answer. In fact, your most difficult challenges won’t.

When information falls short

Something I consistently hear from business owners is that the hardest part of their job is learning to work with people. There’s simply no magical formula or phrase that will help your team perform at their best. You could spend all day reading books, watching webinars, or going to conferences and you would definitely learn a lot--but your efforts would be poorly spent. 

Seeking out new information will only get you so far. If it’s a technical challenge that requires a new skill or more knowledge, then you’re on the right track.

But for your most difficult challenges, you’re quite frankly wasting your time. These are called adaptive challenges and they require a change in mindset or perspective. Rather than just acquiring information, these challenges require transformation. A whole new way of relating to yourself and your challenges that increases your leadership capacity. 

How your mindset can hold you back

These are the times where your old ways of meaning-making are falling short. Your beliefs and attitudes that served you up until a certain point are now holding you back. You might have a belief that being thrifty and saving every dollar you can will help you be financially secure. This will serve you up until a point, but there will come a time when investing heavily in yourself and your business will be the only way to truly scale. Or you might have a belief that nobody else can do the work as well as you can--there will come a time when you will be stunted by this, and trusting others through delegation will unlock your next level of success. 

Often we might even “know” what we need to do or how we need to do it. For example, “technically” you know how to delegate. What’s holding you back is your mindset, your beliefs about what might happen and what that would mean.  

The challenge is in growing our capacity to operate at a higher level, deal with more complexity, or understand things from a systemic perspective. This type of growth isn’t something that’s acquired through reading a book or learning new information. The most effective way of “growing a bigger mind” in this way is working with a certified coach. 

Mindsets to help you grow

There are different types of mindsets that you can try out to help you get out of your own way. As always, choose this within the context of the results you’re trying to achieve. Your mindset is a tool that you can use to accomplish your goals. Is your current one helping you, or holding you back? Here are just a few examples of more effective mindsets:

1. Growth mindset. Probably the most well-known, and for good reason. This was popularized by Carol Dweck in her book “Mindset.” This is characterized by a belief that intelligence can be developed, as opposed to a fixed mindset that would believe intelligence is static and innate. A growth mindset leads to a desire to learn and tendencies to: view challenges as opportunities, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as the path to mastery, and learn from criticism. Easier said than done!
2. Abundance mindset. This goes further than merely having faith in “the universe.” Peter Diamandis describes this as having “clarity, evidence, and conviction that technology is dematerializing, demonetizing, and democratizing products and services, creating increasing abundance on a global scale.” 
3. Gratitude mindset. I truly believe that gratitude is the secret to life. There is always something to be grateful for: something that we already have, or who we already are. There are multitudes of psychological benefits, including increased happiness and empathy, and decreased resentment and regret. 

What would you be capable of with an upgraded mindset? How might growing your belief system unlock your potential? Let me know in the comments below.

If you want individualized support to help you develop a more powerful mindset, schedule your free 20-minute discovery session now. I’ll help you get crystal clear on what your next level up looks like, uncover the subtle ways you’re getting in your own way, and help you create a plan for greater success.